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08.30.05
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| 09.07.03
Seize The Moment #2: Before The Curtain
by Samir
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For first-time readers, Seize The Moment is the title given to a series of training journals I am writing as I train to be a professional wrestler. I began training on August 1st, 2003, with the Montreal-based Northern Championship Wrestling. Among the recurring the most recurring the nCw's current trainer, a guy called Cobra. Where I make reference to any wrestler, you can find his profile on http://www.ncw.qc.ca/ if he is an nCw wrestler. Also, uou can check out my archives on the Oratory forums in the forum entitled "Samir".
Photos courtesy of NCW.qc.ca
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So, after a mere 5 weeks of training, I finally decided to show up early the day of an nCw show and help set up the joint. Cobra had instructed me to arrive no later than 3:00 PM, so I figured I'd be fine arriving at 2:30. After finishing a few routine chores, I pulled up to the NDR Center (nCw's show/training facility) at exactly 2:30, and I was surprised to find a prime parking spot, right in front of the entrance. I figured with a bunch of people in there helping out already, I wouldn't. Of course, it turns out that 3:00 is like a general guideline. In fact, I was the only one there until nCw's Anna Minoushka arrived at 2:45. Boy did I feel like a jobber, showing up early only to be met with a locked door.
Slowly, most but not all of the boys arrived. Cobra, the man with the keys to the entrance, was running late. None of the other trainees showed up either, so basically, I was standing around with about 20 guys who all knew each other. Man, that was lonely. I thought of introducing myself, but I figured I'd get a feel for them first. I talked a bit to Shane Matthews and Jagged, collectively part of nCw's hottest tag team, 2.0 who frequently come to training sessions which is where I met them, and to Anna, but that was about it. I can honestly say, as an outsider looking in, the boys seemed very close and genuinely happy to see each other.
Cobra arrived and we were let in, finally. That's where the fun began. Anna asked me to help her set up the ring with Binovich and two of the referees. Holy crap, there is so much stuff to do: Cross-breams, posts, rods, more beams, plywood, foam, buckles, apron, ropes, skirt.... Anyway, eventually more of the boys arrived, so setting up the ring was pretty quick. After awhile though, I had no idea what to do with all the ring parts, so I started vegging around, talking to Shane's girlfriend who seemed to be the only other person there who I knew (she used to train as well).
I introduced myself as a trainee to a few of the other boys. Interestingly enough, the only two wrestlers who approached me first were 2 of the company's 3 biggest stars: Manuel Vegas and Franky The Mobster. Not that I expect everyone to come up to me and say "hi". Cobra once told me that rookies in this business wait till they're addressed before speaking to anyone. It was just nice that some of the boys recognized my obvious discomfort and helped me out by meeting me halfway. It was interesting to see Vegas, the current champ, help in setting up the ring. You don't suppose Triple H comes out and sets up the ring, do you? I shot the shit with Manny for a bit, and then someone called me over to help set up the guard-rails.
The whole night, I was praying for other trainees to show up so I could sit in the crowd with my friends, namely, Lonely Solider Boy who was to join me at the NDR Center later that night. The way thing work is that during the show, some of the trainees are given various jobs (the timekeeper, the doorman, the DJ). I figured the more of them showed up, the more easily I could weasel my way out of such a task to sit with my buddies. Especially being the "new" guy, I figured they wouldn't "trust" me with anything. As 3 turned to 4 and 4 turned to 5, I could see I was the only trainee who was there today. The realization that I might be banished to the DJ booth, on the 2nd floor of the NDR Center, away from my friends, began to creep in.
Now, going to and Indy show is only 50% about the wrestling, maybe even less. Let's be honest folks. I loved going to nCw shows in the past, and, by and large, there are always at least 2 very good matches on each card, last night being no exception. But I think the bigger reason to go, at least for me, is the atmosphere and camaraderie of being in the thick of a raucous crowd. LSB and I had a great running gag with 2.0, whereby we would call them all sorts of names of jobbers long past, something which all started with me once referring to Jagged as "The Marty Jannetty of 2.0". LSB, though, took it to the next level by bringing actual cut-outs of Marty. That, my friends, is a fan. He spent the better part of a day searching through back issues of WWF magazines for, of all people, Marty Janetty. Most of the English-speaking people thought the joke was a riot, and 2.0 never failed to use the gag in their matches. It was a great interplay between the crowd and itself, and the crowd and the wrestlers. It's that feeling of boisterous intimacy that made me a fan of live shows. The DJ booth, though, was 40 feet above, and my only connection to the action was a small window from which I had an eagle's view of the entire show.
My clairvoyance seemed to be bang on, because around 5:30, I was told I was the DJ. After 10 minutes of training, I was left basically to my own devices. Now, the experience was somewhat hair-raising, because, as I said, I've never DJed anything. I made a few mistakes, things were a bit rough, but over-all, I suppose everything was fine.
After the show, I was reflecting on how it felt watching a show for a company I was now part of. Needless to say, I'm not "part of" nCw in the same way some of the long-time wrestlers are, but having lent a helping hand, having trained at the school, I sort of feel like I've entered into the family – the same close-knit group that I saw exchanging laughs before the show – at least on the fringes or outskirts for now. I'm sure the half of the guys I introduced myself to have already forgotten me, but goddammit, I was directly responsible in some part for the production of a show, an event, a gala if you weeeeel (as the great Dusty is so fond of saying). All cogs in the machine are important ones, after all.
When I wasn't too busy cueing tunes or adjusting the lights, I was free to watch the matches (and try to learn something). Yet, I found it somewhat harder to mark out. Knowing all the booking in advance certainly didn't help, but it was also the fact that I knew a lot of these guys "behind the curtain", even if only scant words were exchanged. In that time, I had gained glimpses of their truer selves. Now, in the case of the better workers, I could still appreciate their merits and the quality of their showmanship, even if I knew them. Yet it remains that as part of the crew, some of the mystique was dead. Were I to quit tomorrow, I still would carry this knowledge with me. No one warned me about this point of no return when I started training, and quite frankly, I feel a bit surprised and taken off guard.
So it is, then, that I understand IN PART why mystique, why kayfabe is so important. It's odd, because before I started training, I would have argued that kayfabe is useless these days, and with the Internet especially, it's a thing of the past. Yet, here I was, experiencing the death of kayfabe inside of me. As I reflected on it some more, I came to understand that this sort of experience is exactly the one that separates the armchair wrestler (that I used to be, I suppose) from the one who has been "in the business". Does it sound pretentious of me to say this after less than 2 months of training under my belt? I'm sure it does. The fact remains, though, that I had the experience and I am able to cogently write about it. There is, in fact, a whole other world behind the curtain, and I have seen it.
I am loth to wonder about people who, in the past, had the same experience I did. For me, I don't think my ability to be a fan died. The fact is, I can see the boys in a different light, and appreciate the hardships of the hobby much more so than before. I'm sure at the next show, I'll be going back and forth in my own mind between seeing the boys as the characters they are playing, the same way any fan would, but also as guys who have achieved a certain level of skill that comes with diligence and hard work, as craftsmen plying their trade. So, in the death of the mystique is born a different, perhaps more appreciative view of wrestling. It's a lot harder than some people think.
To find out, one need only take a tour behind the curtain. A lot when into the last nCw show, a lot that the fans didn't see before the first curtain.
Cheers,
Samir
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